Thursday, 31 December 2009

Proposal to evaluate the award of IPTA degrees based only on 70%academic achievement will mean that Malaysian Universities will failthe Washington Accord agreement standards for engineeringqualification.

At present, he said, the admission requirement for matriculationstudents and Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil TinggiPersekolahan Malaysia (STPM) holders was still based on 90 per centacademic and 10 per cent co-curriculum merit.

"Right now, the selection of students to IPTA is done based on 90 percent academic and 10 per cent co-curriculum merit.

"But, once the students are accepted into the university, they will beevaluated based on 70 per cent academic and 30 per cent co-curriculummerit.

"When they graduate, the first thing their potential employers willask is about their experience and skills, not their academic results,even for first-class degree holders.

"So, the proposed intake requirement is being considered because thecurrent job market demands a balance between academic results and co-curriculum," he said after sending off Mohd Noor Mat Amin on his solomission to scale Mount Kinabalu, at the Kinabalu National Park nearhere.

Saifuddin said some of the employers had even lamented on the qualityof fresh graduates, especially those who were inactive in co-curriculum activities.

Hence, the deputy minister called on 152 students associationsnationwide to be proactive in organising more activities to increasetheir co-curriculum merit.